In this cross-sectional study the relationship between components of empathy and proactive/reactive aggression in adolescents is examined. In this research a distinction is made between dispositional and situational empathy. These concepts are both constituted by a cognitive and affective component. In this study questionnaires and an empathy task were taken ... read more with 338 adolescents when they were 17 years old on average. Stepwise multiple regression analyses have shown that dispositional empathy, both the affective and cognitive component, is related to proactive as well as reactive aggression. In this study situational empathy is not significantly related to aggression. Girls had higher scores on all components of empathy, when boys had higher scores on aggression. However, two-way analyses of covariance showed no significant sex differences in the strength of the relation between dispositional empathy and aggression. In earlier research the relation between situational empathy and aggression has rarely been examined in a non-clinical sample. The most unique aspect of this study is that the relation between different components of empathy and aggression is studied. Longitudinal research is necessary to specify the relation between empathy and aggression. It seems plausible that the relation between empathy and aggression is different in various circumstances, like in a clinical sample, or in a different age group or with different instruments. show less

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